All Alone In The Night
by Jonathan J Strange
Summary: Picking up from where season 27 left... After landing in a city, floating in the Time Vortex the Doctor and Ace are about to discover a deadly secret someone wanted to hide, but who? Finding the answer could be the last thing they ever do.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer; There is some mild language and distressing/scary scenes.**

**Copywriters;**

1 – Doctor who, all characters from doctor who, TARDIS and all other related trademarks are the property of the British Broadcasting Corporation.

2 – The stories are my property and cannot be copied or used in part or full without my prior written consent.

3 – Some story lines/ideas have been taken from John Nathan-Turner and these will be credited accordingly.

4 – Any lyrics appearing will be credited to the appropriate artist.

**Chronology;**

John Nathan-Turner, producer of Doctor Who, seasons 26-27, had a long term plan for the Doctor and Ace. He gives a few clues and basic ideas as to season 28 in the 'Endgame' documenter found on disk 2 of Survival. So, I am en devouring to write a few stories following the Doctor and Ace through Season 28 and possibly ending at the start of the 1996 film. So this is my version of Season 28 of Doctor Who, and, using the original idea, I will explain what happened to ace.

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**All Alone In The Night.**

**Chapter 1**

"_There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, _

_where the sea's asleep and the rivers dream, _

_people made of smoke and cities made of song, _

_somewhere there's danger, _

_somewhere there's injustice, _

_somewhere else the tea's getting cold. _

_Come on Ace, we've got work to do." _

_Sylvester McCoy – Survival._

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Ace sat in the chair, the main room was quite and only the sound of the console could be heard as it moved up and down as they traveled through the time vortex. She was thinking back to Perivale. She was thinking about Midge and Karra, why did they have to die? It almost seemed unbelievable now, sat here in the safe light of the TARIDS console room, that she had felt the rush of the fight, the call of the wild, wanting to run with her sisters on that alien world and that she had not wanted it to end. That was probably the scariest part of it all, she had enjoyed letting primal instinct take over. Pushing her hair back over her shoulder her mind drifted to the Master, where was he now? Why did death follow the Doctor as if he were just another companion on this heltar-skeltar ride through time and space?

The door to the inner TARDIS opened and the Doctor strolled out, his question mark umbrella hung over his arm and his silk scarf hanging round his neck. Walking over to the console he flicked a row of switches on a panel on the opposite side. The central column juddered, the walls shuddered and Suddenly the TARDIS lurched, Ace slid from the chair and into the dotted wall.

"Doctor?"

"Sorry, the temporal wave indicator has detected a narrow disseminating particle stream of free radicals passing around the TARDIS."

Picking herself up, she walked towards the console, reaching it just in time to be thrown against it by another violent jerk. She could never understand why the doctor always came out with such technical jargon as if she was supposed to understand. And the way he looked at her when she didn't respond, he seemed so wrapped up in his own little world in here she really didn't think he noticed he was talking to anyone, not at least that he was talking to a human, not a time lord. She may have created a time storm in her bed room but she didn't know everything.

"Disseminating free radicals?"

The Doctor didn't look up, he continued adjusting dials and pressing buttons. "Free radicals are particles given off by any living creature, they disseminate quickly after effecting the course of events." He couldn't understand what they were doing in the time vortex. Nothing could survive out there, it made no sense. He pulled up a readout of the area surrounding the TARDIS. A stream of free radicals was passing the TARDIS, the formation and directional flow of the stream told the Doctor that he could track it back to it's sauce. He released the automated guidance circuit switch and set the flight parameters to the stream of particles.

The TARDIS jerked and Ace was once again sent, uncontrollably, to the floor. She had been through some bumpy rides since hitching up with the Doctor but she had never been this scared before, she was staring to regret leaving with him. Would her life have been so bad in Perivale? She honestly didn't know. The TARDIS swept right and sent her sliding across the floor to impact with the console.

"ACE!" The Doctor called out, he hoped Ace was alright, he knew she was thick skinned but not in the same way the TARDIS console was.

"I'm fine." Standing up she rubbed the back of her head. The impact had left her with a headache and her vision was a little blurred. She could make out the Doctor standing at the console, he was still flicking switches and turning dials. She could see he was frantic and from the look on his face he seemed worried. She pulled her bomber jacket back over her shoulders and grasped the rim of the console in case the TARDIS decided to try and send her on her backside again. She looked round and wondered if the Doctor had ever thought of redecorating, the dotted white walls and blank floor had started to feel a little old after two years. She had never understood her ability to think of the most mundane things at times when such fantastic things were happening. Just part of who she was.

"We're here." The central column had started to slow down, the TARDIS was materializing. The Doctor knew how unsure he sounded and a glance at Ace told him she had heard the waver in his voice.

"Where is here?" She knew that a surprise was always fun and most of the time it was a surprise when she stepped out of those doors on an alien world, or even her own world, just a different time, but the note in the Doctors voice told her that this wasn't the place to expect nice surprises.

"Well..." Checking the readout the Doctor looked over to Ace. "We are in a city."

"A city, is that all you're going to tell me? Come on, Professor, where are we really?"

The note of hesitation in his voice told her he wasn't sure where they were himself. She watched him as he walked round the console once, twice, three times to check his readouts. She had never seen him this worried and confused before, he was a time lord, to her she was_ the_ time lord. She wished she could meet the others, the high council he mentioned from time to time, the mountains on Gallifrey. Why wouldn't he take her there?

"Shall we go and find out where we are?" Picking up his hat from the stand near the door her pulled the doors open. Ace rushed into her room and picked up her rucksack. She still had a can of nitro nine that the doctor didn't know about and she wasn't about to tell him about it.

Passing over the temporal threshold they stepped out of the TARDIS, the city that surrounded them was odd, odd in so many ways. Ace looked round at buildings that seemed to have been built in different eras, Tudor houses next to large glass monuments. Here and there she could see small viking style cottages and the occasional sky scraper that reached into the swirling purple and blue atmosphere. This was the strangest sky she had ever seen, it looked like someone dropping colored ink into water and mixing it.

"At least the sky's nice."

"That's not the sky." He knew all too well what they were looking at, it should be impossible but they were there, looking up into it. "It's the time vortex." He couldn't understand it, it made no sense at all. To be outside the TARDIS in the time vortex was deadly. Neither he nor Ace should be stood there, but they were. He had to admit that she was right, it was nice, he might even go so far as to say it was beautiful. Glancing round he searched for something that may explain how they were there, how they were alive. He could hear no sound, no people talking or moving around and no animals. The buildings so miss matched the city looked more like an architects jumble sale than a city.

This was confusing, the Doctor had told her that nothing could survive inside the time vortex, if no other reason than it wasn't in time, as such, it was outside and so anything linear would cease to be. He had explained it such; 'If there is no time line to move along then nothing can move along it.' It had made sense at the time, but standing here, watching the walls of the vortex rotate past the spires of the unimaginably high towers the laws of the time lords seemed so far away.

"Dose that mean we should be..." She didn't really want to finish that sentence herself.

"Dead." His voice hollow and cold. A matter-of-fact statement not made to make either of them feel any better.

"And so you shall be!"

Ace turned quickly towards the voice behind her, the barrel of a gun was level with her eyes and pointed straight at her. The gun clicked as it was cocked, she was going to die...

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**Author's Notes:**

**I hope you liked chapter 1... to be honest this was meant to be a one-shot but I think it works better like this. **

**Yes, I've followed the Doctor Who rules, imminent death as a cliff hanger, I did say at the top I would explain what happened to Ace... but will she die.. you'll have to wait and find out., **

**Please R&R, I look forward to hearing your thoughts. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer; There is some mild language and distressing/scary scenes.**

**All Alone In The Night.**

**Chapter 2**

The Doctor pushed the barrel of the gun upwards with his umbrella and quickly stepped between the gunman and Ace. He couldn't really allow Ace to killed, not only would that mean he'd lost another companion it would also mean he would be alone, and he really didn't want to go looking for someone else to travel around with him. The young man regarded him with suspicion, an air of defiance surrounded his words.

"Who are you?"

"I am the Doctor and this is Ace." This was a very unusual way of starting a conversation? "Can I ask why you have just threatened to kill my companion?"

"You're not from round here." His cold blue eyes were not going to give anything away. The red tunic ran down like a jacket too small at the front to close, silver buttons ran in two lines from the neck and down the shoulders.

The Doctor glanced down to the six silver buttons, attached for decorative purpose, on the front of the tunic, at the stomach. He looked into the silver sheen of the buttons at the engraved emblem but it was too warn away to make out clearly. Slowly retracting his umbrella, the Doctor watched as the gun was lowered to the young mans side and the cock, released with out him even needing to look.

"I'm Tanim, I patrol this sector." He still eyed them with an air of suspicion. "Where did you come from, this area is out of bounds to civilians?" He was scrutinizing both the Doctor and Ace, their appearance in his sector could mean only one thing. "Stelos should have waited, I told him to wait."

The Doctor regarded this young guard with mild amusement. Once again he and Ace had managed to land in the wrong place at the wrong time. What was he going to say to get him out of it this time. His nag of tricks was running low, maybe it was time for the direct approach. "You seem to have mistaken us for someone else. We have just arrived here."

Lowering his voice he leaned closer to the Doctor. "I know, I know, just get lost till high call. The guards change then, you'll be able to get in, I'll keep the relief guard talking, that should give you time to get in and retrieve the files." He looked at the Doctor and Ace still stood there, couldn't they take a hint? "Get out of here."

"Professor?" Ace was confused, but she was used to it by now. "Professor?"

The Doctor turned round and took her arm. "Come my dear." He guided her away from the young guard who was looking round the area. He was obviously watching for someone, someone who he really didn't want to come past wile they were there.

After turning down a dark alley Ace pulled out of the Doctors grip. "What's going on Professor?"

"The revolt is beginning my dear Ace and we have just been mistaken for Emmiline Pankhurst." Glancing round the corner the Doctor could see the TARDIS, it was only a few feet away, but if that guard was still stood in the shadows they would have a lot of trouble explain why they were going back. Letting his eyes roam the alley he caught a glimpse of a welcome sight "Hungry?" With that he started to walk off down the ally.

Ace couldn't work out why he was going on about Emmiline Pankhurst, she wasn't sure, but Ace thought that that was the woman who had started the suffragette movement, she made the government re-think the law on women having the right to vote. What did British woman getting the right to vote have to do with this planet? She turned to see the Doctor slowly disappearing into the darkness of the alley, slinging her, sliding bag, back onto her shoulder she ran down the alley after him. "Knowing the Professor, it's got nothing to do with it... Professor, wait up."

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The pool was cold, the thick liquid oozed between his thighs as he moved. The cushion of gelatinous fluid held his hair less, deformed, head safely as he opened those obsidian eyes to a would of darkness where fear would never hold him it's it grip nor compassion ever taint the heart that beat within his chest. His long fingers reached out, the warm liquid flowing past his hand as it reached the surface.

The room was dark around him, slowly the generators were starting up and breathing light and life into the dank stale room of rock. Pulling himself over the top of the stasis vat he fell to the floor. His bones jarred against the hard ground as lumps of gel dropped from his naked body crawled toward the suit. The suit retention chamber lit as he reached it, his long fingers reaching out for the release lever.

Green globals of semi-hardening liquid dotted the floor from the vat to the chamber as the orange glow of phosphorescent lights grew brighter. The hiss of the door sliding back as he reached his target, filled the cavernous room. His body shivering, the sickly grey skin crawled as he raised himself from the harsh floor. His face a twisted visage of insanity look all the more disfigured in the harsh lights of the chamber as he pulled himself up to the suit. His skin surrounded by the cold hard steel, his face encased in that great helmet, he would instill fear wherever he traveled Feeling the connections latching into place he felt the suit come alive, the life force pumped round the inhuman facade as he moved it from it's place of rest. It's place of imprisonment.

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Pushing the thin steel door open the Doctor walked into the well lit room. The counter ran the length of the back wall with all manner of bottles standing on shelves behind it. The soft light flowed down from lamps covered with a deep red netting that seemed suspended in the air. He caught sight of the old man behind the counter and walked between the jumble of tables. He noticed how fine the cloths draped over the tables were, the intricate patterns weaved on them both wondrous and elegant in one flawless piece of material. Reaching the bar the Doctor glanced at a row of keys that were hung on nails along the wall at the end of the counter.

Ace clambered through the door and stopped at the sight of this rather comfortable looking room. "Professor, why didn't you wait up?" Passing between the tables to join the Doctor Ace glanced round at the pictures of the uniformed men on the walls, all of them with those sharp ridges running from the corners of the eyes around into the hair above the ears, she had noticed similar ridges, just not as pronounced. The medals were awesome, she had always liked oddities. She always wondered if that was the reason she got on the with the doctor so well.

"I think it's time we got some sleep." Taking a key from the little dark haired man from behind the counter the Doctor turned toward a door to the left and walked toward it.

The little man's brown eyes sparkled when he looked at Ace, she noticed how he resembled the men in the pictures. She wondered if they were his grandfathers, or some distant relatives. Glancing back as she walked through the doorway she saw the look of greed on his face as he watched her move.

They walked down a shabby corridor, the walls adorned with tatty tapestry's and pictured rugs only broken by the wall mounted lamps that, as in the lobby, were covered with deep red netting. Ace was looking round, the Doctor seemed not to notice the degradation on the doors that they were passing. She noticed how some were almost warn away at the corners and the odd one had chunks missing from their handles. A yellowish mist was seeping from the crack between the floor and one of the doors on the left, the air tasted of opium and she felt herself go a little dizzy as she rushed past, trying not to stay too long in the mist.

The Doctor had stopped at a door near the end of the corridor. He was twisting the key in the door but, to no avail, it would not open. Pushing hard against the door his shoulder slammed into the wood. A sharp pain ran down his arm and his hand shook. The door was not going to open. Turning to walk back toward the lobby.

Ace too the key from his hand as he turned.

"Ace?" He didn't have top wait long to see what his mistake had been.

She pushed the key into the lock. "Back at home, there was this old shed." She turned the key. "We deiced to use it as a hideout so we fitted the a lock to it." Holding the key in it's unlocked position, she grasped the handle. "It was attached to the handle so you had to turn the key and handle before the door would..." Turning the handle Ace pushed the door open. "Open."

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In the lobby, the little man with the green eyes reached under the counter and pulled out a transmitter. It's long aerial had to be pulled out to full length and then moved to find a decent reception before he could pick up the handset and enter the frequency code. The signal cracked and white noise hissed over the channel.

"March heir to Wonderland... March heir to Wonderland..." He waited eagerly for a response.

"Wonderland receiving." The gruff voice echoed round the room. He turned the volume down and adjusted the pitch.

"Wonderland, Snow white has entered the forest, I repeat, Snow White has entered the forest."

After a short silence the gruff voice crackled back across the air waves.

"The Cheshire Cat will call, keep Snow White locked up."

"Snow White has someone with her. Wonderland, Snow White is not alone." He seemed worried by this, the man who had entered earlier should not have come here. He waited to hear what they would have to say, this had never been part of the plan.

"March heir, keep Snow White and her guest occupied, will inform the Cheshire Cat and proceed from there. Await orders."

The air waves hissed and clacked, the signal had been terminated. Wonderland could deal with it from here. Placing the transmitter back under the counter the little man blustered around the lobby cleaning tables that had never been used in years.

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Ace had been sat on the bed since she had looked round the room when they had got in. The two beds seemed soft enough, a small chest of draws stood between the two beds with a motif emblazoned on the handles. Ace couldn't make out what it was, it looked to be made up of a large circle and two smaller ones within it but that was about as good as her eyes were in this dim light.

"Have you noticed how quite it is Professor?"

The Doctor had been watching out of the window, there room looked out on to the back of the building and a court yard that dropped away at least two stories. He had not seen anyone crossing the dark square in the time had been stood there, the only light a dim glow from the surrounding windows. He wasn't even sure of there was a way onto the yard. "It's peaceful Ace."

"Professor..." She rose to her feet and walked toward the window. "It's dead, Dead quite. It's not natural. This city's how big?" She knew then by the look he was giving her his the reflection in the window, that he had already thought of this but had chosen not to say anything. "Oh... why can you not tell me things, it makes me feel really stupid."

"Why don't you get a nice hot bath, it'll make you feel better." The court yard was still silent and the vortex that swirled above him, he still felt uneasy about being here. Glancing in the window he watched as Ace picked up her bag and walked toward the bathroom. Where were they, there was no record of any city in the vortex, there was no record a civilization surviving in the void, he didn't understand it at all.

Ace walked into the Bathroom. The tiled floor, white and green, she noticed with some disgusted that the green was mould growing between the tiles and not the grouting paste. The bath was an off pink colour and the divider that closed round the shower area was a stained glass, stained red and it was not paint. She placed her bag on the floor and turned the shower on using the touch sensitive tags on the side of the bath. Running her hand under the warming water she looked into the swirling liquid spinning down the octagonal plug hole. She could hear the cries of a baby, she could see the creatures rising form the sea... A hand covered her mouth another grasped her arm, she was being pulled back. She tried to struggle but the grip was too strong for her, it felt like the grip of a vice around her mouth. Her breaths were coming short and sharp and soon she was kicking out, striking the bath. She was moving back toward the wall, she kicked out again and this time caught a shelf piled with ornate glass bottles.

The smashing of glass brought his attention back to the here and now,. "Ace!"

Running over to the bathroom door and started hammering on the cold blue wood. He could hear her struggling, she was fighting against someone. "Ace! Let me in!"

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**Author's Notes;**

**If anyone messages me about a 'Mary Sue' opening I will kill... I will try better next time but this is Doctor who.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**Unlike some of the other things that I am writing I will try and get into the story as soon as I can and do the exposition along the way, I have no idea if that will work so please let me know what you think. **

**I would like to thank Laura Harkness, for bringing to my attention the fact my title also appears in the opening credits of Babylon 5; "**"The Babylon Project was our last, best hope for peace: a self-contained world five miles long located in neutral territory, a place of commerce and diplomacy for a quarter of a million humans and aliens, a shining beacon in space, all alone in the night."" **This was completely coincidental, but I thought it best that I should mention it. Thank you Laura.**

**The title; – All Alone In The Night, was also an episode title in season 2 of Babylon five, and is to be used for an up and coming, 2009 (exact release date unknown), production. (see please R&R, no matter how much or little you would like to say, I will be glad to hear all you comments.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer; There is some mild language and distressing/scary scenes.**

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**Chapter 3.**

The Doctor slammed against the door. Ace was strugleing inside, he wondered what had happened to her now? "Ace!" He gave one final push before the barrel of the gun met his cheek.

Inside the bathroom, Ace tried to hook her feet on the edges of the openeing but to no sucess. Soon she was sliding back, along a dark corridor. Patches of light breaking through the crumbeling wall illuminated the cobwebs and rather large cretures that resembled spiders with armour and fangs. Ace wasn't scared of spiders, but these were a little diffrent. Pulling against her kidnapper she found thier strength formidable and the hold they had on her was tight. Giving in to the inveitable, she had been with the doctor long enough to know this was usual, she relaxed and allowed them to carry her to their destination.

Turning slowly the Doctor could see the middleaged man who had the gun pointed at him, his dark hair laid flat on his head and his brown eyes shone through the dirty skin that surrounded them.

"Come." Jarring his gun towards the door he watched the Doctor. Allowing the man in the jumper and hat to walk, causualy, out of the door, he pulled the door closed and led him down the dimly lit hallway.

* * *

Moving from the chamber he could feel the cold, life giving, liquid rush around his body as he moved toward the sealed door, slowly. His sense returning in flashes, the smell of his dank surroundings, the sight of the phosphoresent plants giving off light to the cold stone walls. He could feel the metalic gloves that encased his weak, stubby fingers and the power coupling, that joined to his body at the base of the back, sending pulses up his spine and along his nerves, to awkaen the last of the dorment cells throughout his sluggish body.

The sealed door was unlike the rest of the walls, it was smooth, clean lines and with three slits running over its surface that seemed to eradiate from the centre, one stright up and two going to the bottom corners. A large black device was attached to the silver surface ath e centre and had a blinking a red light. Running a finger over the front of the black device he found the depression in the centre of its' face and pushed.

The flimsy cover cracked and broke away, falling to the floor like shards of glass. Archs of electricty jumped from his fingers to the locking block and shortly the cooling vent on the upper side began to smoke and the lights flashed manicaly. He could taste freedom, his oral senses reviving, the air was damp and the saulty taste of the syspension jell hung on his tongue.

The locking block fizzed and sparked then fell away from the bulbus door. The large triagular section slid down and the sides fell away allowing him entry to the main control room.

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The red painted wall opened up before them. The dark stairway leading down looked like the entrace to some prison for those who would never see the light of day again. Ace and the Doctor felt the guns jab them in the back and Ace turnd to hit the tall man who had dragged her from the bathroom but the Doctor placed his hand on her arm.

"Ace.." He did not have to say anymore, he knew the look he wore, the '_Just do it_', look, would make sure she followed orders without question. Since Fenrick, they had very few cross words and she seemed to undersatnd a lot more. She was brighter than Fenrick had given her credit for, maybe she couldn't have created the time storm in her bedroom wihtout his help, but she had still survived wihtout him while traveling with him.

"Professor, where are we going?" She trusted the Doctor, she knew ghe would never let her ghet hurt but, they were walking into darkness wiht two men who had, albeit oddly shaped, guns.

"Quite." The tall man jabbed his muzzle into Ace's back, he had been told to keep the prisoners silent. He heard the door close behind them and a few moments later they were bathed in an irridesent green light. It had been discovered long ago that they couldn't see green light so all Concord bases had been fitted with the green entrance lights.

"Just keep moving." He was surprised that these people could see in the green light, maybe thier inteeligance was wrong. He looked at Paro and raised an eyebrow, and from the look he recived in return, his comrade had noticed the same oddity. He decieded that it was not up to them to dissern the nature of these newcomers to Claustrum.

Ace glaced at the Doctor as they came to the bottom of the wide staircase. The smell of ozone filled the hallway as the large red, four inch thick, steel doors slid open to reveal a low ceilinged room with strip lights running at equal intervals down from one end to the other.

Walking into the room, the Doctor looked round at the old holo-posters lining the dirty cream walls. Rows of tables stood along the room, the ones closest to the walls were covered with electronic parts and half finnished, bodge jobs. The next two rows, that they were presently walking between, were covered in maps and diagrams of the city. Glancing over them the Doctor could see plans for the entrie city laid out, level by level. A cross section disserned that the city was three miles at it's talest tower and it sank a mile into the rock it sat on but non of the schmatics seemed to penetrate any lower than sublevel 2.

The red, steel, beams that protruded across the ceiling were rusted and the Doctor noticed how some had papers and dyagrams hung from them. The mottled ceiling its'self was old and mouldy in one corner. He could make out the squat plump shape of a man, the curled black hair running down to his shoulder blades and the silver jacket was remanincent of someone, but the Doctor couldn't put his finger on who.

"These are the people." Paro said as they grew closer to thier second.

Ace watched as the black haird man turned, his face wrinkeld but still strong, she could see those brown eyes and, for a moment, thought she was hallucenating.

He turned and looked at the interlopers, it was mild shock and slight amusement that made the corner of his mouth curl into a half smile. "I should have know, Hello _again _Doctor."

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**Author's Notes:**

**Firstly, may I apologise for the time it has taken to continue this fic, I had a few problems with my brain, it got stuck on Torchwood, end of season.**

**Well well well, I wonder who this could be... hehe.**

**Have fun trying to work it out.**

**Copy Right: **

_Doctor Who and Ace are the intellectual property of the BBC, Television centre, Woodlane London._

_TARDIS is a registered trade mark of the British Broadcasting Corporation and I use them with no prior consent, but do not wish to cause the franchise any ill publicity. And my, story in no way, bears any relevance to current broadcasted episodes._

_However – all other characters, unless stated in authors notes of chapter, and this story, are my creation and belong to me._

_I am a life long fan of Doctor Who, Long Live Rassalom!_


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer; There is some mild language and distressing/scary scenes.**

**Chapter 4.**

He smiled at the Doctor and glanced over to the far corner of the room where a group of men stood at a table. "Dibber, come see who's here."

Dibber was stood with his back to the Doctor, his tight leather trousers squeaked as he straitened up and turned to face the central table. His face cracked into a broad smile and he started over toward the Doctor with his hand held out in greeting. "Hello Doctor, how's it been?"

"What are you two doing here?" The Doctor asked, he had met both these men before, long ago but his memory of them was still clear, they were con-men and thieves.

"Sabalom Glitz, it's been ages." Ace put her arm round Sabaloms' shoulders and gave him a quick hug. "How's things been?" She could remember how he had helped both her and the Doctor, it seemed like and eternity since they had last met. She looked into those cool brown eyes and was glad to see a face she knew, his friend, Dibber however, was a stranger. Obviously he knew the Doctor, but this wasn't the first time she had come across someone who knew the Doctor from past experience and most ran screaming, or tried to kill him.

The Doctor eyed both men with mild suspicion, he had met Sabalom on Ice World but, since his regeneration, had not encountered Dibber. How could this young man know who he was? The Doctor assumed, after a moment of thought, that Sabalom must have told him of the transformation. "The last time I saw you, you were aiding Sabalom in stealing secrets. What are you up to now?"

"Doctor, that was a long time ago." With a nod to the room he continued. "We've got a sweet racket going on here, you see..."

"I don't think the Doctor wants to know all the ins and outs of what we're doing Dibber, now go and get that casket of darlekainum, there's a good boy." Sabalom felt flustered, he asked himself, again, why he kept Dibber around, he would spill his mind to anyone who asked nicely. He could see the look he was getting from the Doctor, he knew it meant more questions but for now, he would be asking the questions.

"That thing must weigh a tone." Dibber protested. He was getting a back ache from all the hauling he had been doing since they arrived here, he was being paid nicely, well, he would be when the job was finished.

"It's what I employ you for, how many times do I have to tell you, now go and get it." Giving Dibber a shove he watched him totter toward the office that made up half of the shorter part of the 'L' shaped room. Turning back to the Doctor and Ace. "So, what are you two doing here?"

"I'm not sure, yet." The Doctor watched Dibber wander off to collect the darlekainum. "Darlekainum's a rather powerful explosive." Watching, he saw Dibber pick up a large casket, no less than a foot across and a foot deep. He could hear Ace chatting away to Sabalom as he watched Dibber catch his balance.

Sabalom pretended not to hear the Doctors' comment about darlekainum, he wasn't about to say what he was using it for. "So, you still with him then?" He wanted to know how they got here and, more importantly, could they leave? "He still go round in that TARDIS?"

"Yeah, we've been all over." Ace, by personality, was a loaner but even she enjoyed the company of others every once in a while. She thought she would have been happy when she went back to Perivale, but, the master had ended that idea. "We were on our way to Gallifrey when we landed here."

"Isn't that the Doctors home planet?" He knew full well it was, he just needed to get her taking. He'd known Ace for a few months before the Doctor had shown up on that frozen planet, he had come to know her and now, he would be able to use that acquittance to his advantage. His mind buzzed with ideas of finding a way to come and go from this little slab of rock, and once he had managed to leave, he could strip it bare.

"Yes, it is." The Doctor was still watching Dibber as he attempted not to fall on his face with the casket. "That will blast a whole in this rock the size of Belgium, if he drops it."

Sabalom turned to see Dibber teetering on the verge of falling backwards. "Dibber." Rushing toward the young man, he held out his arms. Catching hold of the casket and keeping Dibber upright, just in time. "I wish you would be more careful."

"Sorry Glitz." Dibber felt ashamed, he was always letting Sabalom down, he was always messing up. Making a note to start acting more like an apprentice and less like an idiot, he carried the casket to the central table and placed it down in front of Glitz and the Doctor.

Ace saw the bombs and jumped at them, picking one up and tossing it from hand to hand. "Cool bombs, hey Professor." She didn't notice the look of horror on the faces of the Doctor or Sabalom, Dibber was smiling along with her.

Sabalom reached forward, taking the bomb from Ace. He knew he had to be careful, he also knew how lucky he was it hadn't gone off in her hands. "It's highly unstable." He heard the main door open and turned to greet Takan. He notice the look of perplexed worry on the big mans face and then saw Tamin walking in beside him. Tamin was glancing round the room and then Sabalom saw him lay his eyes on the Doctor and Ace. Sabalom sighed as Tarmin pointed at the Doctor.

"That's them."

* * *

The air purification unit had stared up moments after he had entered the control room. He could sense the air being circulated now, the old, stagnant air was being replaced by fresh, living air from the refinery up above.

The rows of lights had blinked on and the sensors were now giving readouts of the area above him. He was still in the time vortex but the surface of the rock had changed and from what he was getting from the readouts, the rock had moved from its' original location. He had suspected as much when they had come up with the idea, they had been so sure of their own superiority, so sure they had given themselves over to the ultimate sin.

A panel behind him blinked, the automated alarm sounded, the ticker tape spilled out onto the floor, the series of dots and dashes a simple code. Reading it down he was surprised to see that only one TARDIS had landed, only one TARDIS with two occupants. Turing to the monitor, he accessed the external surveillance systems. Timing them back he watched as the blue box materialized in the back street and the two occupants stepped out.

"One of you is a Gallifreyan, the other..." He tapped a row of buttons and flicked down a set of four switches on the top of the console. Scanning a locked screen display into the system he analyzed the womans molecular composition. "DNA based, 219 million base pairs, hydrogen, oxygen mix, Outer layer is composed of keratinocytes, melanocytes, Langerhans cells and Merkels cells... skin... She's human." The clear voice filled the room as the realisation struck. "This Gallifreyan travels with a human?"

As far as he knew, they had never deemed the human race as having any true importance when it came to the grand scheme, unless something had changed in his time of stasis? Turing he accessed a column of switches that started up the main reactor, soon his base would be fully operational he would be free. Looking back at the monitor, the cold silver eyes fell on the youthful face of the female leaving the TARDIS. He wondered if the guard had been alerted yet, had their sensors picked up the minor atmospheric changed in the cavern? Choosing to opt for the safer, he moved to the large silver lever, some what stiffened with age, that protruded form the rock face on the left of the doors and, after a small amount of resistance, pulled the lever from it's upright position, 180 degrees. Almost immediately, the large doors closed and the thick Adamantium barrier closed over the security access door, sealing him into the control room.

His neck stiffened, the polymer casing had worn slightly, turning his head he could hear the servos and actuators fire. Moving to the reactor control port he pulled the safely guard from the coolant control valve and turned the dial almost a full rotation clockwise, a run of lights, ranging from green to bright red lit up as he turned.

"Soon the reactors will be up to full power and then, then I can vent the exhausted into the atmosphere."

* * *

**Authors Notes,**

**DUM DUM DUM,**

**Please R & R. **


End file.
